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Showing posts with label NA3PA. Show all posts
Showing posts with label NA3PA. Show all posts

Thursday 6 October 2011

NA3PA (na3pa.org) Scam: NAPPPA reborn

NOTE: You can find out who was operating NAPPPA here.

Earlier this year, I came across a fake seminar outfit called the North American Program Planning and Policy Academy (NAPPPA) [read the comments for more information] running out of a rented mailbox in Los Angeles. NAPPPA was recently covered by ABC15 in Arizona (see video below).


It seems to be a bait-and-switch operation. Seminars are promoted as being held at universities, only to switch venues at the last moment, students complain the the seminars are of very low quality and there are complaints as well that people who have been employed to teach these seminars (often hired via Craigslist) are not getting paid.

Well, a contact informed by that NAPPPA was back, this time peddling seminars under the name of NA3PA and with a website at www.na3pa.org:

From: NA3PA Announcements
Subject: Strategy Session: Program Planning, Evaluation, and Proposals (October 18 - 19, 2011: Los Angeles, CA)


NA3PA will be conducting the Program Planning, Evaluation, and Proposals Strategy Session in Los Angeles, California on October 18 - 19, 2011.  Interested development professionals, researchers, faculty, and graduate students should register as soon as possible, as demand means that seats will fill up quickly. Please forward, post, and distribute this e-mail to your colleagues and listservs.

For more information call (888) 673-8865 or visit our website at http://www.na3pa.org. Please find the program description below:

The Program Planning, Evaluation, and Proposals Strategy Session  is a hands-on, intensive session that leads participants through the entire grant proposal and funding research processes. Through an intense two day practicum, participants will receive an overview of program planning concepts along with advanced writing techniques to develop successful proposals. This results-based session combines individual exercises with group collaboration to allow each participant to leave the session with a Program Planning and Funding Dossier. Exercises leading up to the dossier and organization narrative include a thorough proposal outline, completed worksheets necessary for proposal submissions, and a starting collection of publications and resources to build a development library. Strategy Sessions is designed to provide your organization with the competitive advantage necessary in our modern grants award environment.

This session is ideal for those with a targeted program, but is equally effective for those who can identify their program and funding interests. Completion of the Pre-Session Interview and Assignments is essential to program success and value. Each participant will receive a selection of funding programs tailored to their program and/or areas of interest. Participants without a program will be provided a working example during Pre-Session.

The Program Planning, Evaluation, and Proposals Strategy Session will cover the following during the two day session:

(1) Fundamentals of Program Planning

This session will teach professional program development essentials and program evaluation. While most grantsmanship  "workshops" treat program development and evaluation as separate from the writing of a proposal, this will teach students the relationship between overall program planning and proposal writing.

(2) Strategic Funding Research

At its foundation, this session will address the basics of foundation, corporation, and government grant research. However, this course will emphasize a strategic funding research approach that encourages writers to see research not as something they do before they write a proposal, but as an integrated part of the grant  seeking process. Students will be exposed to online database research tools, as well as publications and directories that contain information about foundation, corporation, and government grant opportunities. Focusing on funding sources and basic social science research, this course teaches students how to use research as part of a strategic grant  acquisition effort.

(3) Professional Proposal Writing

Designed to obtain tangible results, this session will make each student an overall proposal writing   specialist. In addition to teaching the basic components of a grant proposal, successful approaches, and the do's and don'ts of grant writing, this session is infused with expert principles that will lead to a mastery of the process. Strategy resides at the forefront of this session's intent to illustrate grant writing as an integrated, multidimensional, and dynamic endeavor. Each student will learn to stop writing the grant  and to start writing the story. Ultimately, this session will conclude with a completed proposal outline.

Tuition for this two day strategy session is $398.00.

Strategy Session Registration

1. Participants tentatively reserve a seat online at http://www.na3pa.org, by calling the Program Office toll-free at (888) 673-8865, or by sending their name and contact information via email to registrar@na3pa.org.

2. A confirmation email is sent to registrants that includes  session site information, travel information, program description, and details on how to confirm attendance and make payment arrangements. An invoice and agency W9 is also included.

3.Upon attendance confirmation, registrants will receive (usually via email) a Pre-Session packet that will include 1) a Pre-Session Interview, 2) Pre- Session exercises to be completed, 5) a Session Agenda and Schedule, and 4) a receipt.


You have received this invitation due to specific educational affiliation. We respect your privacy and want to ensure that interested parties are made aware of NA3PA strategy sessions and schedules. This is intended to be a one-time announcement. In any event, you should not receive any more announcements unless there is a program next year in your area. To be unlisted from next year's announcement, send an email to remove@na3pa.org and write "Unlist" in the subject line.

The registrations details for the domain na3pa.org are hidden:

Registrant ID:decwp508561qlee2
Registrant Name:Protected Domain Services - Customer ID: DEC-3558115
Registrant Organization:Protected Domain Services - Customer ID: DEC-3558115
Registrant Street1:P.O. Box 6197
Registrant Street2:
Registrant Street3:
Registrant City:Denver
Registrant State/Province:CO
Registrant Postal Code:80206
Registrant Country:US
Registrant Phone:+1.7202492374
Registrant Phone Ext.:
Registrant FAX:
Registrant FAX Ext.:
Registrant Email:na3pa.org@protecteddomainservices.com


na3pa.org itself is hosted on 69.72.186.55 at Fortress ITX. If you get a spam from NA3PA (and you can be assured that it is a spam), then forward it to abuse -at- fortressitx.com.

That server also hosts napppanet2.org which has been used before, and similarly has an anonymous registration.

The email is sent from an apparantly address of losangeles@grantfundraising.org - grantfundraising.org is another recently registered anonymised domain.

(Update 21/10/11 - the domain academicresearcher.org is also in use by these people)

This operation appears to be run out of California, apparently from the Hacienda Heights area (the originating IP for the emails is always 173.55.115.38). I know that complaints have been filed with both the BBB and the California AG's office, but no action appears to have been taken.

If you have any experience of "NA3PA" please feel free to share them in the comments.

NOTE: You can find out who was operating NAPPPA here

Tuesday 15 February 2011

Scam: "North American Program Planning and Policy Academy (NAPPPA)"

NOTE: You can find out who was operating NAPPPA here

Fake seminars are an unusual way of scamming money from people, but this one appears to be such a pitch.

Using the domains napppa.org, napppaweb.com, napppanetwork.com, napppanetwork.org and napppa.com the "North American Program Planning and Policy Academy (NAPPPA)" claims to have been around for 50 years, but it only seems to have gotten around to registering its domains in the past two months with anonymous registrations. A Google search comes up with nothing but these recently registered websites and some spam, so it certainly appears that this is a wholly bogus outfit.

In this case the email is routed via 96.43.142.170 in the US, which also hosts napppanetwork.com.

Update: these emails appear to be originating from 173.55.115.38, a Verizon customer in Hacienda Heights, California (near Los Angeles).

From: NAPPPA Announcements <announcements@napppanetwork.com>
Date: 15 February 2011 14:40
Subject: Strategy Session: Academic Research Funding (April 25-26, 2011: Seattle University, Seattle, WA)
Signed by: napppanetwork.com

The North American Program Planning and Policy Academy (NAPPPA) will be sponsoring an Academic Research Funding Strategy Session at Seattle University in Seattle, WA on April 25-26, 2011.  Interested science, technology, and medical professionals, researchers, faculty, and graduate students should register as soon as possible, as demand means that seats will fill up quickly. Please forward, post, and distribute this e-mail to your colleagues and listservs.

For more information call (800) 649-6522 or visit The NAPPPA website at http://www.napppaweb.com.

Please find the program description below:

As a response to increased demand and competition for academic research funding support and training, as well as the high cost of many programs, we offer this two day strategy session through the proposal writing and development process. This strategy features two modules: 1) Practicum I: Focusing on the format and structure of the successful research funding proposal, this module provides attendees with an overview of each part of the research funding proposal, avenues for researching available grant programs, and concludes with fundamental proposal writing techniques. 2) Practicum II: Drawing from practical exercises and techniques developed in Practicum I and the Pre-Session coursework, participants are guided through the completion of a Research Funding Dossier, which acts as the culminating work product of the session.
This session is ideal for the researcher with a targeted program, but is equally effective for those who can identify their research interests. Completion of the Pre-Session Interview and Assignments is essential to program success and value.


Academic Research Funding Strategy Session  will cover the following topics:

* Fundamentals of the Research Funding Proposal Process
* Basic Elements of the Standard Research Proposal
* Essentials of Researching Funding Opportunities
* Types of Research Funding Opportunities
* Online Tools and Traditional Publications for Research
* Successful Proposal Writing Techniques
* The Do's and Don'ts of Proposal Writing
* The Strategic Grant Acquisition Effort

Tuition for this two day strategy session is $398.00.

    Strategy Session Registration

    1. Participants tentatively reserve a seat online at www.napppaweb.com, by calling the Program Office toll-free at (800) 649-6522, or by sending their name and contact information via email to registrar@napppaweb.com.

    2. A confirmation email is sent to registrants that includes session site information, travel information, program description, and details on how to confirm attendance and make payment arrangements. An invoice and agency W9 is also included.

    3. Upon attendance confirmation, registrants will receive (usually via email) a Pre-Session packet that will include 1) a Pre-Session Interview, 2) A Pre-Session Reading Packet, 3) Three exercises to be completed, 4) a Session Agenda and Schedule, and 5) a receipt.



You have received this invitation due to specific educational affiliation. We respect your privacy and want to ensure that interested parties are made aware of NAPPPA strategy sessions and schedules. This is intended to be a one-time announcement. In any event, you should not receive any more announcements unless there is a program next year in your area. To be unlisted from next year's announcement, send an email to remove@napppaweb.com and write "Unlist" in the subject line.

The (800) 649-6522 number comes up on Google quite often, and should probably serve as a warning if you ever see it in an email. Avoid.

Update 17/5/11: there's been a lot of interest in this "Academy", so here are some more details

The napppa.org domain is registered to a presumably rented box at "Mailboxes & More" in Los Angeles.

Registrant Name:Program Director
Registrant Organization:NAPPPA
Registrant Street1:655 S Flower Street
Registrant Street2:
Registrant Street3:
Registrant City:Los Angeles
Registrant State/Province:CA
Registrant Postal Code:90017
Registrant Country:US
Registrant Phone:+1.7602023597
Registrant Phone Ext.:
Registrant FAX:
Registrant FAX Ext.:
Registrant Email:cadiyadvisor@gmail.com


You can see the store here (note the "655" number on the left door)


View Larger Map

Most of the other domains are anonymised, apart from napppa.com which is also registered to what appears to be a box in at Wilshire Mailbox in LA.

Programs, NPPPA  cadiyadvisor@gmail.com
    5042 Wilshire Boulevard Ste 15699
    Los Angeles, CA 90017
    US
    +1.7602023597

There is also a new anonymised domain called napppaprograms.org that is in use.

Update:  two new anonymous domains have emerged, napppanet1.org (212.38.176.159) and napppanet2.org (69.57.166.88). These appear to be used for sending spam mail.

Update:  as of August 2011, these spam emails are still continuing:


From: NAPPPA Announcements idaho@napppanet1.org
Date: 7 August 2011 22:15
Subject: Strategy Session: Program Planning, Evaluation, and Proposals (August 18 - 19, 2011: University of Idaho - Boise)

The North American Program Planning and Policy Academy will be conducting the Program Planning, Evaluation, and Proposals Strategy Session at University of Idaho - Boise in Boise, Idaho on August 18 - 19, 2011.  Interested development professionals, researchers, faculty, and graduate students should register as soon as possible, as demand means that seats will fill up quickly. Please forward, post, and distribute this e-mail to your colleagues and listservs.
For more information call (800) 649-6522 or visit The NAPPPA website at http://napppaPROGRAMS.org. Please find the program description below: 
The Program Planning, Evaluation, and Proposals Strategy Session  is a hands-on, intensive session that leads participants through the entire grant proposal and funding research processes. Through an intense two day practicum, participants will receive an overview of program planning concepts along with advanced writing techniques to develop successful proposals. This results-based session combines individual exercises with group collaboration to allow each participant to leave the session with a Program Planning and Funding Dossier. Exercises leading up to the dossier and organization narrative include a thorough proposal outline, completed worksheets necessary for proposal submissions, and a starting collection of publications and resources to build a development library. Strategy Sessions is designed to provide your organization with the competitive advantage necessary in our modern grants award environment.
This session is ideal for those with a targeted program, but is equally effective for those who can identify their program and funding interests. Completion of the Pre-Session Interview and Assignments is essential to program success and value. Each participant will receive a selection of funding programs tailored to their program and/or areas of interest. Participants without a program will be provided a working example during Pre-Session.

The Program Planning, Evaluation, and Proposals Strategy Session will cover the following during the two day session:

(1) Fundamentals of Program Planning

This session will teach professional program development essentials and program evaluation. While most grantsmanship  "workshops" treat program development and evaluation as separate from the writing of a proposal, this will teach students the relationship between overall program planning and proposal writing.

(2) Strategic Funding Research

At its foundation, this session will address the basics of foundation, corporation, and government grant research. However, this course will emphasize a strategic funding research approach that encourages writers to see research not as something they do before they write a proposal, but as an integrated part of the grant  seeking process. Students will be exposed to online database research tools, as well as publications and directories that contain information about foundation, corporation, and government grant opportunities. Focusing on funding sources and basic social science research, this course teaches students how to use research as part of a strategic grant  acquisition effort.

(3) Professional Proposal Writing

Designed to obtain tangible results, this session will make each student an overall proposal writing   specialist. In addition to teaching the basic components of a grant proposal, successful approaches, and the do's and don'ts of grant writing, this session is infused with expert principles that will lead to a mastery of the process. Strategy resides at the forefront of this session's intent to illustrate grant writing as an integrated, multidimensional, and dynamic endeavor. Each student will learn to stop writing the grant  and to start writing the story. Ultimately, this session will conclude with a completed proposal outline.

Tuition for this two day strategy session is $398.00.

Strategy Session Registration
1. Participants tentatively reserve a seat online at http://napppaPROGRAMS.org, by calling the Program Office toll-free at (800) 649-6522, or by sending their name and contact information via email to registrar@napppaprograms.org.
2. A confirmation email is sent to registrants that includes  session site information, travel information, program description, and details on how to confirm attendance and make payment arrangements. An invoice and agency W9 is also included.
3.Upon attendance confirmation, registrants will receive (usually via email) a Pre-Session packet that will include 1) a Pre-Session Interview, 2) A Pre- Session Reading Packet, 3) Three exercises to be completed, 4) a Session Agenda and Schedule, and 5) a receipt.

You have received this invitation due to specific educational affiliation. We respect your privacy and want to ensure that interested parties are made aware of NAPPPA strategy sessions and schedules. This is intended to be a one-time announcement. In any event, you should not receive any more announcements unless there is a program next year in your area. To be unlisted from next year's announcement, send an email to remove@napppaprograms.org and write "Unlist" in the subject line.

Mail routed via 173.254.208.137, but appears to originate from 173.55.115.38 in Hacienda_Heights, California. This is consistent with the first email

Update: 26th September 2011
ABC15 in Arizona have picked up the story. Text transcript is here, or you can see the video below.


Update: 6th October 2011:
NAPPPA has now renamed itself as NA3PA but is still pumping out the same spam.

Please share your experiences by clicking the "comments" link near the bottom of the post.

NOTE: You can find out who was operating NAPPPA here